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This week, Stanford University announced a new partnership with Piazza - the social learning startup - to make an iTunes U course an exercise in peer-to-peer digital academics.

Boasting of new social features, Stanford says the new free course - "Coding Together: Apps for iPhone and iPad" - will commence June 25th and end August 27th. Registration, however, will go on through July 6th.

“Stanford’s experiment with iTunes U points the way toward an unprecedented expansion in the availability of not just content but active online learning around the world,” said Pooja Sankar, the CEO of Piazza.

You can learn alongside fellow mobile developers from around the world. If you've tried it alone and gotten stuck, now there will be people to help. If you've taken it before and aced it, now you can sharpen your knowledge by helping others. And if you've been meaning to learn iOS development, there may never be a better time.

So is the course worth your time? Although the information and skills to be acquired are valuable, keep in mind that the course won't be graded or even eligible for Stanford credit. Nonetheless, the proverbial pot has been sweetened by an extra special offer. As it turns out, the first one-thousand registrants will be able to have the apps they create during the course considered for "special mention" by the prestigious university.